Movies by filmmakers from around the region are showcased in the annual festival, which on Monday unveiled the entries in the features category of its official competition.

Films at the festival, which runs April 11-17 at Dubai Festival City, include Iraqi director Karzan Kader’s Bekas, winner of the People’s Choice Award at DIFF 2012. The film follows two young orphaned brothers living in Kurdistan during Saddam Hussein’s rule.

Also in competition are Iraqi Kurdistan director Hassan-Ali’s traditional Shirin; Leila Al Bayaty’s musical road-movie Berlin Telegram; It’s About To Rain, a drama about an Algerian father and his two half-Italian sons, by Haider Rashid; and Yemeni filmmaker Khadija Al Salami’s The Scream, about women’s issues and corruption in Yemen’s 2011 uprising.

“The festival in its sixth edition presents a panorama of the most important productions from the latest in Gulf cinema all of which demonstrate the significant filmmaking developments in the region, said Masoud Amralla Al Ali, Gulf Film Festival director. “The festival is a unique opportunity for audiences to come and enjoy a diverse range of standout films from Gulf filmmakers that form a solid and impressive foundation for the future of Gulf cinema.”